If you like nylon gear, this should make your day…
Down Range Gear never really went away but their gear has been very hard to get your hands on for a few years now. Thankfully for all of us, this very influential gear line is available again through OC Tactical who is not only retailing Down Range Gear but also helping to manufacture gear like the QASM Vertical Connectors.
Down Range Gear is trying to kick-start a killer deal on some great gear. They have put together a package that includes a CDH-Tac Finland Lowride Panel and a Regulation Tactical Reflex Mag Pouch Mk2. Both items would normally cost $75 shipped but if Down Range Gear can gather pledges for 35 of the combos, they will sell for $50 shipped!
The CDH-Tac Finland Lowride Panel is a solid, well thought out piece of kit. It is a belt adapter for MOLLE pouches that is easy to mount and provides some drop for clearing armor carriers.
The Regulation Tactical Reflex Mag Pouch has been on JTT before. This pouch is extremely innovative pouch. It provides constant tension on the magazines and presents a magazine in the optimal position for a reload whether it is holding one magazine or two. It also allows for easy retention of partially spent magazines.
The combo is available in black or coyote brown. Visit Down Range Gear and follow the instructions at the link to get in on this deal.
Down Range Gear wants to hook up 10 lucky JTT readers with a Dynamic Strap System strap of their choice! Check out our full review of the Dynamic Strap System and enter below.
You must use the automated entry forms below to enter. Commenting on this post will not enter you into the giveaway.
Instructions:
Open to those with USA mailing addresses (US Armed Forces included). The winner will be chosen on 8/23/2013 at 8PM.
Note: If you do not see the entry form directly below this note, it may be due to your browser. If you are using IE then you can click the compatibility mode button in the address bar (looks like a torn page).
[sc:downrangegeargaw ]
Down Range Gear is one of those gear makers that just seems to be constantly creating simple, well executed solutions to common gear problems. Often, their gear isn’t stand-alone but rather meant to improve another maker’s gear or even create entirely new functionality for it. The Dynamic Strap System is one such solution. At its most basic, the Dynamic Strap System is basically just a replacement waist strap for chest rigs and plate carriers but spending any amount of time with it will make you wonder why manufacturers didn’t just make their straps like this in the first place.
The Dynamic Strap System consists of 4 different straps that can be adapted to a majority of modern chest rigs and plate carriers. These straps have a common element, heavy duty shock cord sheathed in mil-spec tubular webbing, that is the source of much of their functionality. In this review, I will be covering the following straps:
The 1″ Adjustable Waist Strap is intended to replace a chest rig’s waist strap. It comes with male and female side release repair buckles and because of this, it works well to replace waist straps with sewn in hardware that is not easily removable by the user (if you don’t feel like cutting out the buckles). You shouldn’t have to adjust it much, but if you do, the strap is designed to allow the user to pull forward to adjust the waist strap while it is being worn.
The Basic 1″ Waist Strap is also intended to replace a chest rig’s waist strap. It comes with triglides to be used for managing any excess straps. This strap is designed to be set to one length and then left alone. It works well as a direct replacement for any 1″ waist strap that uses 1″ side release buckles as long as you can separate the original buckles from the original strap (even if you have to cut them out).
The Dynamic Strap System also has 2 additional strap types that will not be covered in this review: the 1″ Adjustable Lateral Straps for plate carriers and 1 1/2 / 2″ Basic Waist Strap for chest rigs with thicker waist straps.
The Dynamic Strap System is a fix for two common issues with chest rigs: the difficulty of achieving an appropriate level of tension while still allowing for movement and the need to adjust the waist strap as conditions and clothing change.
It is extremely common to see people with chest rigs that are entirely too loose. I think we all know that a tighter waist strap will help keep a heavy rig from moving around so much as we move but a tight waist strap can be extremely uncomfortable. If you wear it tight enough to cinch everything in place, it probably won’t be very comfortable when your chest is heaving while you suck wind after an intense shooting drill. Most waist straps have no give at all which is an inherent short coming since the chests that they are wrapped around need to be able expand and contract to ensure the comfort (and survival) of the wearer.
The Dynamic Strap System has 4.5-5″ of stretch built in by virtue of their tubular webbing sheathed shock cord sections. That means you cinch the strap down tight to keep your gear from bouncing around and still have the give you need to move your core and breath freely. Why aren’t all waist straps like this?!?!
Hopefully, if you are reading this blog, you know that it isn’t always sunny and 70 degrees outside when you where a chest rig. There are times with the weather conditions necessitate a change in wardrobe. Cold or wet weather often mean that additional layers much be added to the core of the shooter. The Dynamic Strap System has enough give to adapt to additional layers of clothing without any sort of manual adjustment. It works especially well with modern layering garments that are less susceptible to loss of function from compression like synthetic or wool base layers and soft shells. I can adjust my chest rig for a t-shirt and then add a wicking base layer, thin fleece mid layer, and soft shell without the need to adjust the strap for length. I can even swap the thinner soft shell for a thicker more insulated outer layer without having to adjust.
Basically, you can set these straps to a sensible length that is comfortable and allows for all your foreseeable clothing configurations and then forget about them. I like that a lot. Again, why aren’t all waist straps like this?!?!
I don’t foresee any durability issues with these straps. They still look like new after several range trips. The construction is top notch with plenty of attention to detail (check out the heat sealed rounded edges on the webbing below!). You might eventually wear out the shock cord but it is well protected by the tubular webbing which will go a long way toward extending its life (much of the break down of shock cord is due to exposure).
The 1″ Adjustable Waist Strap is designed so that the ends of the strap can be pulled forward to adjust its length. It works well but I never had to use it. This strap comes with male and female repair buckles so it can easily be adapted to a variety of chest rigs.
The Basic 1″ Waist Strap is designed to be set to a particular length and left that way. It comes with tri-glides so you can tuck away any left over webbing. It can be adjusted for length though not as easily as the 1″ Adjustable Waist Strap. I suspect that most users will find this strap to be completely sufficient.
If you are worried about compatibility, don’t be. I was able to fit at least one of these straps to every chest rig that I own except for one. If your chest rig uses a 1″ waist strap with side release buckles, you can fit one of these straps to it.
These straps are certainly not very complex. They aren’t very sexy. They just make sense. Down Range Gear made the straps that everyone else should have been making for their own chest rigs.
Check out the Dynamic Strap System at Down Range Gear. Stay tuned for a chance to win one of these straps!
Look at your chest rig’s current straps. They really just don’t make much sense. They are probably a pain to adjust even though you have to adjust them based on the clothes you are wearing underneath. They don’t stretch at all even though they wrap around your chest which starts to expand and contract dramatically as your activity and stress levels ramp up. So, what typically ends up happening is you leave them looser than they should be which allows your gear to flop all over the place.
Enter the Dynamic Strap System from Down Range Gear.
The Dynamic Strap System comes in several forms for various applications like plate carriers and chest rigs. They all have a central feature in common – the addition of an stretchable section of webbing. The stretchable section consists of shock cord sheathed in tubular webbing. This simple addition creates a strap that moves with you, may never need to be adjusted once it is set, and that lets you keep your gear as tight as it should be more comfortably. These straps just make a ton of sense.
The Dynamic Strap System is available in three different versions depending on your application – lateral straps for a plate carrier, a basic waist strap for a chest rig, and an adjustable waist strap with hardware. Check out the new and improved DownRangeGear.net.
